Second Quarter SSR Blog

          One of the books I read this quarter was Yesterday I Dreamed I Could and Now I Can. The book was a collection of thoughts from Facundo Cabral, a Argentine philosopher who was assassinated in Guatemala. It was purely in Spanish (I translated all the quotes) and reflected on some of the morals that Latin American people should keep in mind as they live. That being said, it's hard to talk about a favorite character because there wasn't one. Instead, I think it would better to discuss the the person that would come out the collection of thoughts. This person surrounds him/herself with their pleasures in a way that wouldn't cause anybody any harm. One of the biggest ideas is that there shouldn't be any countries because your nationality is only an abstraction - an excuse to get into wars. I agree because I think that we should treat each other equally regardless of nationality; our nationality doesn't need to be something that helps us take pride in our persona. My favorite trait of this person is their ability to listen. In the book there is a great quote that pretty much sums up the reason why: "The person who listens is the wisest because they are the only ones capable of rejecting and accepting. The first step to being wise is listening to yourself." It encompasses the reason why some people fail to take notice in their mistakes and don't progress. Listening is important because we can't simply reject what from what we know or what we think we know. You must take everything into consideration before making a decision.
          My other book that I started towards the end of the Quarter is Chinese Cinderella. I haven't completely finished it yet, but I've read enough to know that my favorite character is the main character and author of the book. Adeline Yen Mah writes about the tough and crude experiences she went through when she was growing up in China during World War II. Mah portrays herself as a very dynamic character because she's growing up and learning about the world much like Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird. She was often taken advantage of because she is the second-to-last born daughter. Her stepmother mistreats her, and this allows her humbleness to shine as she can't do anything or else she gets beaten unfairly. Mah grows over the novel because she learns that sometimes life is never fair, it's pretty much the plot of the story so it definitely helps it. I can easily connect because I don't like to complain about the ways that life is unfair, I'd rather make the best of the situation.

"Diplomacy is merely an elegant way of lying." 😊